1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for electrophoresis. More particularly, the present invention relates to a gel-casting module, a main electrophoresis assembly, a casting stand, and an electrophoresis tank.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrophoresis is a kind of analytic technology widely applied in molecular biology and related fields. By using electrophoresis equipment, some charged particles such as DNA, RNA, or proteins can be separated from small ionic molecules or even from a whole cell.
When electrophoresis is carried out by gel substrates, it is called gel electrophoresis. Generally speaking, electrophoresis equipment should provide a gel-casting module for casting gels and a retaining frame for settling the gel-casting module while applying electrophoresis. The gel-casting module usually comprises a pair of plates parallel arranged and a pair of spacers. By clipped by the retaining frame, the pair of plates is spaced by the pair of spacers, and the left and right sides of the pair of plates are closed so that a specific volume of a gel space is formed therebetween.
To assure that there is no leak while casting a gel, It not only needs to insure that the left and right sides of the gel space are both sealed, but should also make sure that the bottom of the gel space is enclosed. Therefore, some electrophoresis equipments even provide a casting stand to seal the bottom of the gel space by placing the gel-casting module, clipped by the retaining frame as described above, on the casting stand.
The gel-casting modules in the art adopt a pair of flat striped spacer to separated a pair of parallel plates to form a gel space as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,342 and Taiwan Utility Model Registration No. TW 277920. The retaining frames and the casting stands in the art are also disclosed in these previous skills.
A retaining frame disclosed in the U.S. patent above comprises a pair of deformable retaining members and a pair of rotatable lever-operated cam. Each retaining members have grooves on the left and right sides to receive the two gel-casting modules. By rotating the lever-operated cam, the retaining members are distorted so that both left and right sides of the gel-casting module are clamped. Next, the clamped gel-casting modules are placed on a casting stand. Finally, the opening at the bottom edges of the gel-casting module is sealed by a clam and a gasket arranged at the top and the bottom of the casting stand respectively.
A retaining frame disclosed in the TW patent above is cooperated with a casting stand. There is a concave arranged on the retaining frame for a gel-casting module to lean upon. In addition, a cover that can be overturned and overlapped on the concave is arranged below the concave of the retaining frame. Clasps for fastening or releasing the cover are placed on both shoulders of the retaining frame.
However, the flat striped spacer disclosed in the art is not convenient for use. Moreover, because the retaining frame adopts too many components, the structure of it is so complex that results in the high cost.
In addition, the closure between the bottom of the gel-casting module and the gasket is maintained by the resilient of the gasket in the art. Thus, the gel might leak and the analysis result will be affected due to elastic fatigue. At that time, the gasket needs to be changed which causes extra loading for maintaining.
Furthermore, according to electrophoresis process in the art, bubbles will aggregate on the gel-casting module that results in obstructing observation. However, no solution is provided in the art.